Jeb! Didn't Last Long
Jeb Bush's formal entry into the presidential race this week lowered the bar for White House aspirants everywhere. Not since Ludacris has America been forced to endure such a terrible "roll-out." For a typical candidate, the attention gleaned from a campaign announcement results in a media honeymoon. Bush, however, is not your average candidate; he's plagued by his lockstep support for his brother's unpopular polices and positions that are either toxic to the conservative base or unacceptable to the general electorate. A scratch beneath the surface of his record as governor and in the private sector reveals a reality not matched by his rhetoric. Whether its challenging the pope, promoting cuts to social security, or giving the voters and the conservative base more reason for suspicion, Bush's campaign is tripping over itself right out of the gates.
Jeb! In NH: Privatizing Social Security? My Brother Tried, 'Next President' Will Too
Speaking in New Hampshire today Jeb! showed that his ties to his brother's unpopular policies don't stop with Iraq. Watch American Bridge tracking footage of Jeb! taking passive-aggressive shots at Social Security and telling voters that while his brother tried and failed to privatize it, the "next president" would "try again."
I'mma let you finish… but 'I'm really rich'
The moment we've all been waiting for: Donald Trump is running for president. Like a bald eagle flying down from…
Campaigning On "Crap"
Scott Walker's week is quickly nose-diving into another disaster for the governor. Frustrated with his continued absence from important budget decisions, Wisconsin Republicans aren't wavering on their rejection of the governor's "crap budget." Meanwhile, Walker's flagship jobs program, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), still can't get taxpayers' money back from the outsourcing company it loaned it to. Already receiving criticism for phoning it in, these latest developments promise to ruin the very reputation Walker is counting on to win.
From the Associated Press:
While Scott Walker's fellow Republicans were grousing about his budget plan and part of his proposal to overhaul higher education, the governor was more than 1,000 miles away, gripping the wheel of the Mt. Washington cruise boat on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee.
And when lawmakers met Monday night to reach a final deal on other elements of that budget, the likely presidential candidate was in Canada on his fourth international trip in less than five months.
MEMO: Jeb Bush Enters Phase Two
Jeb Bush is launching Phase Two of his campaign today and is hoping to overcome what has been an underwhelming start. He’s still the same out-of-touch Republican who’s carrying over his brother’s policies and misrepresenting his record to squeeze it into something that passes for a 2016 winning message. Unfortunately for Jeb, he’s facing the same problems among conservatives in the GOP primary and independents in the general election – nobody thinks he should be president. Maybe Jeb Bush’s campaign slogan should be “Right to Return” – return to his brother’s failed foreign policy and tax cuts for the wealthy. He’s already returned to a spectacularly failed shock and awe strategy. In the last week, Bush has demoted his campaign manager-in-waiting, reminded voters that he would publicly shame unwed mothers, “offered little to differentiate himself from Obama” on his trip to Europe, and sent conflicting signals about whether his super PAC will or won’t raise the $100 million he set as the goal in January. (Not to mention the goal was originally to raise $100 million by March.) Now Jeb is starting his campaign trailing Lord Voldemort and in a virtual tie with Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson.
NEW VIDEO: Jeb Bush 2016: 'Mission Accomplished'
Jeb Bush botched his campaign for president before it even began. His "plan" to clear the field with outmatched fundraising and…
The Uncompassionate Conservative: Vicious Headlines for Jeb Bush
NEW VIDEO: Marco Rubio's Foreign Policy Flop
Need to know the definition of nation building? Or wondering if you should liquidate your retirement funds? Don't ask Marco…
Shady Ayotte Allies Behind Factually-Challenged Attack on Hassan
Senator Kelly Ayotte is battling trouble on multiple fronts, from her awkward attempts to distance herself from onetime ally Frank Guinta to her experiment in legislation to cover up her anti women's health record and getting busted in a lie about a campaign film crew at a taxpayer-funded event. Now, she's turning to a pair of shady old allies to try and rough up Governor Maggie Hassan with misleading claims about her record. Read more about Ayotte's ties to this shady special interest group in the Bridge Project's Conservative Transparency database:
Impact America Action is a shadowy right-wing organization that first popped up in the 2014 Nebraska gubernatorial election. In that election, the group ran $200,000 in ads against then-candidate Pete Ricketts “for once supporting a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants during his 2006 U.S. Senate race” despite Ricketts’ reversal on that position in 2014, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Virtually no information is available about the organization, and IAA’s website provides little more than a boilerplate endorsement of “pro-growth solutions.”
AP: Rubio's real estate dealings often a drag on his finances
There's at least one compliment Marco Rubio won't be getting during his campaign: financially savvy. Rubio's financial dealings have been subject to scrutiny lately -- there aren't just skeletons hidden in the closets of his foreclosed house with David Rivera, there are new questions being raised daily. Fueled by his political aspirations, Rubio has been making one "financial mistake" after another, despite earning $4.5 million since his first year in the Florida legislature. This is causing many to ask: if he can't manage his personal budget -- once he became wealthy -- how on earth will he be able to handle America's? From the AP:
Factor in some questionable moves with money and a hefty load of student loans, and it's clear that the Republican presidential candidate's real estate dealings often have been a drag on his finances despite an income most would relish.